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Posted on Tuesday, August 28th, 2018

Save the Date: December 30, 2018 Eugene Christmas Bird Count

The date for the 2018 Eugene Christmas Bird Count has been set for Sunday, December 30. It will be our 77th Christmas Bird Count. More information will be in the November Quail. But if you can’t wait: FMI: Dick Lamster, 541.343.8664

Swift Event Well Attended By Both Birds and Humans

When more than 5,000 birds show up, the Swift Event at Agate Hall is an incredible natural phenomenon to witness! And that’s how it was September 7. It was a perfect evening and the people attending seemed to have a great time.

We estimated 200 people enjoying the show. The Vaux’s Swifts gave a spectacular performance, circling around for more than an hour, then entering the chimney after sunset in 10 minutes time! Once they started dropping in the chimney, it was hard to count them, but we estimated 5,400 birds. A Cooper’s Hawk captured two birds, highlighting the risks these small birds cope with every day.

Thanks to Rebecca Waterman, Nick Paget, Ron Renchler, Ramiro Aragon, Debbie Schlenoff, Maeve Sowles, Hilary Dearborn, John Polo, and Rose Britton for turning out to help out and share the fun.

Eugene Commits to Bee FriendlinessIn July, the City of Eugene passed a resolution to become a Bee City USA affiliate. This official bee-friendly designation helps institutionalize our community’s commitment to sustain pollinators. The Bee City USA program endorses a set of commitments, defined in a resolution, for creating sustainable habitats for pollinators, which are vital to feeding the planet.

For details as to what this commitment entails, you can check out their website: beecityusa.org

Two Booth Volunteers Needed—(1) Setup and (2) Staffing SchedulerIfyou’d like to help Lane Audubon in a big way but don’t have a lot of time available, here are a couple of ways to get involved. We need a person to take over the Lane Audubon booth setup and takedown, as well as someone to coordinate the scheduling of booth staffers.

Booth setup/takedown involves delivering and erecting our portable booth, tables, and display materials at event and festival sites, and then dismantling them after the event is over. Setup and takedown require only an hour or two of your time, usually on a Saturday morning and early Sunday evening, a few times a year. If you enjoy being outdoors in the morning and doing a little light physical activity (nothing too strenuous), this could be the spot for you. Access to a larger vehicle (a van or pickup) is useful.

If you’re more indoorsy and have some basic computer and organizational skills, such as sending e-mail messages and putting together staffing schedules, you could help Lane Audubon by sending out announcements alerting our volunteers of booth staffing opportunities. After volunteers respond, you put together staffing schedules and distribute them by e-mail to volunteers. This work usually takes an hour or two and can be done in your own home a couple of weeks before booth events are scheduled.

Orientation and training for these volunteer positions will be provided. It can be rewarding to work behind the scenes to help Lane Audubon spread the word about the importance of birds and their habitats. If you’d like to learn more about either of these positions, please call Ron Renchler at 541.345.0834, or e-mail him at christyandron2@gmail.com.

New LCAS T-shirtsClassy, freshly designed LCAS T-shirts have just become available, and you can have one for only $15. The simple but striking design features birds flying into the towering Agate Hall chimney on the UO campus. It’s similar to what we see during the spring and fall Swift Events that we host outside the actual chimney. Black with white print is the only color option. The shirts are 100 percent preshrunk cotton and made in the US. They come in sizes small, medium, large, and extra large.

They will be available at our monthly Program Meetings, and at booth events. To make other arrangements for purchasing a shirt, e-mail Ron Renchler at christyandron2@gmail.com.